Caponizing

[rhoda_bruce]

I called my vet; not to get him to do the caponizations, but to show me how to do it. I asked to watch him once and then to do one, under his supervision and then perhaps just one more to cement it in, but his wife called me back and said he doesn't do that anymore. They referred me to a bird hospital in New Orleans. So I asked them the same. They would preform the surgery for me, but they woudn't teach me. So I told them that wouldn't help me, because it wouldn't be cost effective, unless I knew how to do it. We're all on our own I guess. I think I can do it.

 

[oregonboy1974]

can some one help im in oregon and have a back yard coop i would like some infow on capon can you do it do you take the bird to the vet ???? thanks guys

 

[Yoke]

Practice on your next bird after you slaughter it. The testies will be oversized -- but it gives you a starting point on where to find them without risking a bird.

By the time I eviscerate a bird, the guts are so jumbled up you can't tell what came from where. I also will have to pull the feathers aside and go in from the side.

Searching the web provide a few videos of marginal educational value. There is one of a guy somewhere like Indonesia that squats down and holds the feathers and feed with his own toes and does each bird in just a few seconds. If I use his technique, it will take 6 months of stretching and exercise just to hold the bird.

I think there are a lot of people who would like to learn, but the upfront cost of time alone may never be paid off. If you pay a vet $200-$500 to teach you, you'll need 500 birds with that extra pound or two of weight just to pay that off. Factor in the extra feed to get that weight, now you need over 1000 birds (plus losses).

Ya, I would like to learn also -- the math is just wrong. (However, at a penny a peace, that Indonesian guy is making a good living).

Any tips from others that have tried or investigated caponizing?

 

[Yoke]

-- regarding taking to the vet, it would be way to expensive for a meat bird -- and much too risky for one pet.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I found the information on this forum sufficient to enable me to master this skill on my own.

Only the first cockerel attempted died, that's because I cut the connecting thread instead of gently pulling & snapping it. Even his death wasn't a total loss, I turned him over and practiced taking out the testicle from his other side without losing blood, and never lost another cockerel after that.

The main difficulty I encountered is that in order to be most effective, the procedure must be done when the cockerels are very young, 4-6 weeks. But at that age their parts are very small and more difficult to locate & identify. My over-40 eyes have difficulty seeing up close, I would like to have better lighting, magnification, & equipment. Or a young, sharp-eyed apprentice to direct!

 

[ambrosia]

I have been following caponizing techniques these past few weeks as well... and I am determined to try it! I think it is better to do this than process them at too young of an age. I have a friend who has promised to assist me, and with her career choice she has had much more training than I. My daughter will be happy ~ she fell in love with one of the chicks, and it is a cockerel...

 

[coyotesmommy]

I found the information on this forum sufficient to enable me to master this skill on my own.

Only the first cockerel attempted died, that's because I cut the connecting thread instead of gently pulling & snapping it. Even his death wasn't a total loss, I turned him over and practiced taking out the testicle from his other side without losing blood, and never lost another cockerel after that.

So what you are saying (because I want to know as much as I can before I attempt this) In the instructions I read you take the extractor ( the long tool with the loop on the end, start at the beginning of the testie, thread it thru the loop after you go over the rice grain / bean and get to the end gently pull up and twist in the same motion. Snapping it. right? Did you pull and cut it? Why did that not work, did you nick a blood vessel?

 

[En Plein Air Farms]

there was a long thread here last week with lots and lots of photos of the process as one of our members learned how to do it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote: As I remember, the one I lost was because I thought I should cut something in there I figured was helping to moor the little organ in place. But when I reached in there with the scalpel and cut, the cavity flooded with blood and the poor little guy immediately turned pale, grew limp, then died. He wasn't a total loss, because we staunched the blood and turned him over and practiced on his other side. I learned that you only have to grab the organ, with the loop tool or with tweezers, and gently pull out while twisting around to cause the little thread that holds it to snap. I wish you great success with your operations.

 

[dretd]

As I remember, the one I lost was because I thought I should cut something in there I figured was helping to moor the little organ in place. But when I reached in there with the scalpel and cut, the cavity flooded with blood and the poor little guy immediately turned pale, grew limp, then died. He wasn't a total loss, because we staunched the blood and turned him over and practiced on his other side. I learned that you only have to grab the organ, with the loop tool or with tweezers, and gently pull out while twisting around to cause the little thread that holds it to snap. I wish you great success with your operations.

I have not caponized myself, but am familiar with biology. The stretching and twisting of the vessel is key to initiating the clotting cascade preventing excessive bood loss. If you cut a blood vessel is is an open hose and blood pours out. If you pull and stretch it, tissue factors in the damaged vessel wall initiate a clotting cascade called and extrinsic pathway and a clot will form minimizing blood loss.

Here is a moving story about a young man whose arms were torn off in a farming accident. He was able to go to his house and dial 911 with a pencil clutched in his teeth and lived to tell the tale because his arms were torn off instead of being cut off so the stretched blood vessels clotted the blood. http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/551888/-I-Survived-.html?nav=5010 Brave kid.